


the world shouts 'no' (hope whispers 'maybe')

by Dusty_Skyes



Series: Land, Sea, and Sky [11]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: AU - Everyone lives, M/M, Minor Angst, Mutual Pining, Plot Development, Possible Spoilers, Unrequited Love, at this point i feel like i should classify the unrequited Kass/Teba as 'glacial burn', forget 'slow burn', teba acknowledging that he's an idiot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2017-03-29
Packaged: 2018-10-12 14:38:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10493055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dusty_Skyes/pseuds/Dusty_Skyes
Summary: It begins when the Knight wakes up.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again. I swear, where is this urge to write coming from?
> 
> Title is from a quote that reads "Hope is the little voice you hear whisper 'maybe' when it seems the entire world is shouting 'no!'"

     It begins when the Knight wakes up. When his whole body shudders and eyes flicker open, unfocused and unseeing, and Mipha leaps to her feet immediately, darting over to his beside. Her footsteps echo loudly on the floor, yet he doesn't react, face still as empty as ever. The crystal still embedded in the skin of his throat hums faintly, pulsing in time with his heart.

     “Link?” Mipha asks, forcing her voice to form the words, but there is no response. She tries again, speaking his name louder. Nothing.

     Revali steps over and settles on the edge of the bed, an unusual amount of concern in his posture, and carefully grasps small hands in his own. They're smaller than his, thin and slender with smooth skin, but his palm is calloused from wielding a blade for so long. Link startles, jerks, and tries to yank away, but the Rito is far stronger at this time. He breathes in slowly, dredges up the memories from the back of his mind, and carefully folds the Hylian's fingers into the correct shape. 'Hello.' The hands beneath his still for a moment, then sign it back, and Revali laughs and signs out every letter of his name, taking great care to make sure that they're perfect. 'R. E. V. A. L. I.'

     Link's hands tremble; he flashes the sign for death, and Revali responds with 'No,' before signing his name again and then placing slender fingers in his plumage. The feather crest on his head is pretty distinctive and once, before they had died attempting to take down Calamity Ganon the first time, Revali had allowed the Hylian the chance of touching his bright plumage.

     For a while Link does nothing but brush his fingers across his feathers, his hands mapping out the crest he once knew so long ago. Long tears drip down from milky eyes, a watery smile crossing slender lips. 'It is you,' Link manages to sign, then wraps his arms around Revali fully and cries. He's soaking Revali's good tunic, but the Rito doesn't care. That can be dealt with later.

     Then the Hylian pulls back, almost as if a thought as occurred to him, and he frantically presses his fingers together in a name that makes Revali snort. 'M. I. P. H. A.'

     Revali glances at her. “Your turn,” he says, amused, as he gets up out of the way. She takes his place immediately, clasps the Knight's hands in her own, and places them on her head-fin. Normally she wouldn't, because touching those is pretty damn intimate, but Link can't seem to see, hear, or speak and it's soothing him.

     The Zora crest headpiece she wears is apparently enough to cement her identity as he starts crying again, thin tears trailing down his cheeks. 'Okay,' he tells her, 'you're okay,' and she laughs once Revali has translated and hugs him back. 'U.R.B.O.S.A? D.A.R.U.K?' With a giggle, Mipha uses the Hylian's fingers to form one of the few signs she knows, confirming that they are all right as well. Link makes a noise of relief and closes his milky eyes, his whole body shuddering.

     Mipha's gaze shifts over to Revali once the Knight has calmed once again, and she frowns slightly. “How do we introduce the others?”

     He grumbles a little, but takes her place on the bed, clasping Link's hands in his own once again. “Come here, Sidon, and kneel,” he says, but his attention is all on the Hylian in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye, Revali can see him dropping to his knees by the bed, curiosity written all over his face. 'S.I.D.O.N,' the Rito writes out, then guides Link's hands to the Zora prince's face.

     Link explores it, carefully tracing each nook and running his fingers along the scar that decorates one of the fins on the side of Sidon's face. 'Mipha's brother?' His signs are hesitant; he's not sure of he's right or not, but delight crosses his face when Revali confirms that Sidon is Mipha's brother.

     The Revali frowns. He turns his gaze on Mipha and asks, “Do we want to introduce Kass now? Or wait till later?”

     “Later,” Mipha says, firmly. “Link needs some rest. Can you inform him that I wish for him to try and sleep a little?” Revali nods and conveys her request, relaxing only when Link nods and snuggles down in the sheets. It seems that he's missing sight and hearing, and possibly his voice, too, and he voices those concerns to their healer. She shrugs. “I won't be able to tell without a thorough physical, but hopefully his hearing and sight will come back. I'll do the physical in a day or two.”

     “All right,” Revali agrees, and then lets her chase him and Sidon out of the room. The Zora prince seems oddly ecstatic and it takes two tries for him to catch the other's attention. “Do you want to come with me while I inform Kass and Teba?”

     Sidon pauses then shakes his head, the fin wagging in his excitement. “I should speak to father and Muzu,” he explains, then presses his lips against Revali's beak, and hurries off down the hall at a quick walk, long legs eating the distance until he's already around a corner. The Rito ruffles his feathers, amusement thrumming through him, and then turns towards the gardens. Teba will definitely be in his rooms in the healing halls, so he can't get to him without going through Mipha.

     But Kass? Kass could be anywhere, but Revali's willing to bet his favorite fruit that the broader Rito is hiding out in the gardens once again. He seems to have taken it upon himself to separate himself from Teba and Revali just wants to scream.

     Teba, however accidental it may be, has done a wonderful job of ruining whatever they may have had. Revali really wants to smash him over the head with the Moblin club the white-feathered Rito's been using to beat their relationship to death, but at the same time, he understands the feelings of unrequited love. Really, the only difference between them and him and Sidon is the fact that he and the Zora communicate with each other.

     Honestly. It's embarrassing that he, the most emotionally constipated of the Champions, has a healthier relationship than his own damn descendant. It's fucking pathetic, that's what it is, and Revali really needs to scream before he gives into the urge to slam their stupid heads together in an attempt to rattle loose what little common sense they actually have.

     As he expects, Kass is in the gardens, moping underneath his favorite tree, and the Rito rolls his eyes in exasperation. This is getting ridiculous, but it's not like he can just inform the other that Teba loves him back. That would ruin whatever trust Teba ever had in him. Ugh. Why do these two feather-brains have to be so damn complicated?

     He and Sidon were never this bad.

     Muttering in annoyance under his breath, Revali saunters over to the Rito with the paler feathers and settles down beside his broad form. “Is this a good time? Or should I go get alcohol and try again later.”

     Kass laughs, and as weak as the sound is, it's better than nothing. “What do you need, Revali?”

     “Our Knight is awake.”

     “That's wonderful! I'd love to meet him.”

     “Sure. There's just one problem. He's blind, deaf, and possibly mute. Mipha says the crystal did something to him, but she also thinks it's temporary, so we'll just have to wait a little while and see.”

     The blue-feathered Rito nods slowly. “I understand. So I just wait for a little while, then?”

     “If that is what you wish, Kass. Mipha, Sidon, and I have already let him know we were all right, but that involved letting him touch our faces and I don't know if you are willing to do that.”

     Kass shudders a little at the thought of anyone but Teba touching his crest-feathers. “No,” he agrees, “I'm really not. But thank you anyway.”

     Revali nods as he stands up, stretching lazily. “Right. I'm going to inform Teba as well. He'll need to know, if only so he doesn't insult the Knight in front of one of us. Mipha would probably murder him for that.”

     “And if she doesn't,” Kass mutters, “I will,” and Revali pretends to not hear him as he walks away. He'd love to assist in fixing their relationship, but really, the only ones who can do that are them.

     As it turns out, there's a window into Teba's room that overlooks the gardens. Today it happens to be open, and Revali flutters up to it, grumbling a little under his breath. He raps on the sill, not about to startle a still-healing, still-jumpy warrior, and watches as the other turns to face him. “What?” Teba snaps.

     Revali raises a single, feathered brow, and flatly says, “The Knight is awake. He is currently suffering side effects from his long sleep and Mipha will kill you if you insult him.”

     Teba scowls, but asks, “What sort of 'side effects'?”

     “Temporarily deaf and blind. Possible muteness,” Revali returns, icy as the north wind, and watches as Teba winces. Once, Teba had been blinded for two weeks after a bright flash attack had caught him directly in the face. It hadn't been a pleasant experience at all and he has no intention of trying it again. So, no, he's not going to cause trouble with the Knight.

(Really, he swears.)

**oOo**

     It begins when the Knight wakes up to more darkness. But this time, there is feeling. He feels Revali's crest, Mipha's distinctive decorations, and even Sidon's scar. This time he knows he's awake. It's terrible not being able to see or hear, but he can feel the sheets underneath him, the wind from the nearby window, and the smell of life around him. 'They'll come back,' Revali promises. 'It's just temporary.' Knowing that those statements come from Mipha, Link is rather inclined to believe him.

     It's his hearing that comes back first. One morning, he wakes, stretches, yawns widely and feels his ears pop sharply like he's been dealing with altitude, and suddenly Mipha's voice is faint in his ear where there was once nothing. She's talking to someone. “Kass, while it's nice that you dropped by to see how he's doing, I don't think it's a good idea.”

     “I understand,” someone else responds, and it's deeper and lower than what he remembers Revali's voice being. It has the same timber to it though, the vague sensation of a chirp that tells him that this Kass is also a Rito.

     He makes a keening noise in his throat, and Mipha's gaze immediately snaps to him. 'K.A.S.S?' he signs slowly, taking great care to form the letters, and he can hear Mipha's sharp intake of breath as she realizes what has just occurred.

     “Your hearing is back!” She starts humming immediately, placing her hands over his ears as she works, and the sound grows from a whisper to one that he remembers so well. “That's good. It means you're getting better.”

     'Revali?' he asks, the sign probably closer to 'asshole' than anything else, and the Zora laughs.

     “He's out on the training fields filling targets with arrows. Kass, would you mind terribly if I asked you to go fetch him?”

     Kass huffs a breath and says, “Of course not,” and vanishes from the room.

     Mipha groans the moment he's gone. “There's another Rito here by the name of Teba, and he and Kass are madly in love with each other but they can't seem to see that the other feels the same. It's been driving the rest of us nuts. On the other hand, Sidon and Revali are courting. They're really cute together and I'm really glad they stopped pining and sorted everything out.”

     Link huffs a breath, uncertain as to why the thought of Revali courting Sidon hurts his chest. He wants to ask more, but a fluttering of wings brings Revali through the window. The Rito lands daintily, and grumbles, “Is there any reason why I was wanted? Kass didn't tell me anything.”

     The Zora rolls her eyes upwards in exasperation. “Link's hearing is back. I expect his sight to return sometime tomorrow.”

     “Oh,” Revali says, brightening immediately, “that's good. I hope you are right.”

     Mipha is right, as always, as Link's sight returns with a vengeance, bringing along a splitting headache that makes him groan and pinch the bridge of his nose. Hearing his pain, she calls upon her healing, gently chasing the discomfort away, and he opens them to see that the blur of red has solidified into her familiar form.

     She grins at him, wide and happy. “Got your sight back yet?” He nods and her smile widens. “Perfect. Feel up to meeting our resident mutual pining Rito?” This time Link snorts and Mipha laughs before adding, “I'll take that as a yes. You can get up for this now that your sight is back.” He reaches out and she hauls him up, steadying his form against her, as they walk out of the room. Causally, he brushes a hand against his throat, freezing when he feels the coolness of the crystal embedded in the skin there.

     Guessing what he's getting at, Mipha gently pushes his hand away. “It isn't doing any harm, okay? I checked. I can't remove it without killing you, so that's why it's still there.” She leads him into another room in the Healing Halls and Link tilts his head at the sight of a white-feathered Rito face down in the bed. His feathers are spiked back, looking very much like they could cut, but Revali's were like that and they were so soft. “Oi!” Mipha barks, and he jerks upright. “Link, this is Teba. Teba, meet the Knight of Hyrule, Link.”

     Link closes his eyes a little and smiles at him, absently giving him the sign for 'Hello,' and he's rather surprised when the Rito glances at it and then nods.

     “Hello, yourself,” he mutters a little grumpily. “Can I be left alone now? I'm kind of busy pondering the level of my own stupidity.” Mipha chokes on her tongue and barely manages to steer Link out of the room before she crumples against him with a cackle.

     “He's head over heels in love with Kass,” she giggles, “which is who we're going to meet next. Kass is probably in the gardens.”

     Kass, a pale-blue-feathered Rito with a yellow belly, is in the gardens, which is no surprise, but he's talking quietly with Sidon. Mipha marches over, Link close behind now that he's steady enough to walk on his own, and she raps her brother on the head with her knuckles. “Look who's up and about!” she crows.

     Sidon takes one look at Link and brightens, smiling ripping his face open from one side to the other. “Hello!” he exclaims as he leaps up and sweeps Link into a crushing hug.

     “You should probably let him go, Sidon,” Kass says, looking and sounding amused, and Link sticks his tongue out at the Rito. He likes Sidon's hugs.

     Revali, who is apparently napping above them in the tree, flutters down and kicks Sidon's legs out at the knee. Which, naturally, he immediately regrets when all three hundred pounds of eight and a half feet tall Zora prince crushes him into the ground. “Get off me!” he bellows, then straightens his feathers and sticks them into Sidon's skin. They don't pierce, Mipha would kill him if he did that, but they sure do poke, and the prince leaps off of him with a yelp.

     Link wheezes silently, blue eyes glowing with delight.

(Sidon tries very hard to not think about how pretty he is when he smiles.

Revali thinks of how pretty Link is when he smiles and tries not to scream.

They're both fucked.)

**oOo**

     One of the first things Link does after waking up is get stronger armor. Daruk makes it, using the forges and techniques of his people to form the metal in such a way that it offers maximum protection with the minimum weight. Urbosa—and boy is he glad to see her and Daruk again—and Mipha enchant the armor, granting it the power to protect against darkness. Revali... Revali gives him a bow, specially made for his hands, and then supplies it with an enormous amount of arrows that range from plain to ice. While it's being created, he spars with Sidon, relearning how his body works. 

     He's taller now, that's for sure, and his hair is longer and in the way, but Link rather likes it. He secures it back in a braid and moves on, dancing across the training area with a sharp blade in his hand. Sidon watches blatantly, admiring the young Hylian as he moves. Revali watches as he works to string the bow properly, pretending the entire time that he isn't.

     Eventually, all that is left for him to do is fetch the Master Sword from its stone resting place. Naturally, that involves dealing with the most aggravating thing in existence; the forest known only as the Lost Woods.

     It's official, Link hates the universe just as much as it hates him. Because while getting  _ to _ the Lost Woods isn't the hard part, getting  _ through _ it is. The entire place is a maze, filled to the brim with a misty fog that returns him to the start if he so much as  _ steps _ in the wrong direction. And the damn stuff shifts position, too, making that one path through that much harder to find. 

     One more try, he promises himself, one more try. And if he can't get through, then he's going to beat the Calamity's face in with a fucking tree branch.

(He'll do it, too. Whether or not it will actually work is another story.)

 

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea if I'll be able to post a second one today. Because taking down Calamity Ganon is going to involve watching a playthrough.


End file.
